Working Toward Therapeutic Goals in a Residential Treatment Center for the Mentally Handicapped.

Levinson, Marlene

An art therapist describes her work with sixty residents (6-35 years old) in a treatment center for mentally handicapped and emotionally disturbed persons. The author discusses definitions, translations, and therapeutic approaches of art therapy. Goals are listed for each approach, and the planning of art activities to meet these goals is addressed. The author then details art activities based on specific goals which apply to each approach. Descriptions of the activities include information on population, background, primary goal, secondary goals, setting, materials, assessment, and future therapeutic planning. It is explained that a selection of an approach is based on student reaction to the art materials, student involvement with the material, and student expression of feelings (verbal or nonverbal) through their art work. Goals are seen to fall into behavioral (responding and trusting, reacting and changing, learning and participating, planning and producing); developmental (perceptual motor and fine motor development); and emotional areas (building out, revealing, and integrating). (CL)